


The Other Half of the Time

by alocalband



Series: OMGCP Tumblr Ficlets [8]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Dibs Flip, Pre-Slash, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-02 14:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11511480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alocalband/pseuds/alocalband
Summary: Nursey blinks several times in quick succession, but the image of Dex in the middle of hanging custom bookshelves on the back wall of their soon-to-be-shared-bedroom while surrounded by at least five of Nursey’s favorite baked goods doesn’t go away. “...I literally don’t even know where to start, bro.”





	The Other Half of the Time

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to tumblr [here.](http://alocalband.tumblr.com/post/162298610675/nursey-is-so-wrapped-up-in-saying-goodbye-to-the)

Nursey is so wrapped up in saying goodbye to the graduating seniors that he doesn’t notice Dex and Bitty disappear until Chowder pokes him in his ribs with a grin. “You’re gonna pretend to be surprised, right?”

Nursey is already surprised, and confused, but doesn’t say so.

When they get back to the Haus half an hour later, taking the long route at Chowder’s insistence, everything looks the same as it always does. That is until Nursey makes his way up to Lardo’s old room, determined to figure out what he’s apparently supposed to already suspect.

“Shit,” Dex curses when he spots him. “Uh, hey? Fuck. I mean. Um. What’s up, Nurse?”

Nursey blinks several times in quick succession, but the image of Dex in the middle of hanging custom bookshelves on the back wall of their soon-to-be-shared-bedroom while surrounded by at least five of Nursey’s favorite baked goods doesn’t go away. “...I literally don’t even know where to start, bro.”

Dex’s head drops down with a beleaguered groan. There’s a number two pencil stuck behind one ear and a hammer hanging from one of his belt loops. It’s a good look on him.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Nursey adds.

“You weren’t supposed to know I installed this,” Dex mutters, eyes trained on the floor.

“And the pies?”

“That was mostly Bitty. I only made one of them." Dex shrugs a shoulder stiffly. "Well. One and a half.”

“And did you _make me shelves_ too?”

Dex sucks in a deep breath, and then pushes it out through his nose like a bull reluctantly trying to hold back. “Look, you’re gonna need some place to keep all your books, and I didn’t want that place to be all over the freaking floor. We’re gonna be crammed in here tight enough as it is.”

Nursey quirks an eyebrow and tries to narrow down the billion and one questions on the tip of his tongue. “Dex. Bro. Just.” He gestures at the mess of pies and shelving. “What? And also, um, _why?_ ”

Dex huffs in defeat, shoulders slumping. “Because I want this to work.”

Nursey frowns.

“I know I’ve been freaking out about the roommates thing, but it’s not because I’m trying to be a dick about it. And Bitty might have mentioned that you probably can’t be looking forward to living with someone who you think hates your guts, so... I don’t hate you, first of all. And secondly, I... _I want this to work_.”

“So this is like, what, an olive branch? Except you said I wasn’t supposed to know it was you. How exactly does a truce work when only one party knows about it?”

“It's not a truce. It's not a contract. Just because I don’t actually hate you doesn’t mean you should feel obligated to stop hating me.”

Well shit. “Poindexter, I--"

“It’s fine, okay? I get it. You weren’t supposed to know that this was my doing, because this whole thing wasn’t to try to-- to earn your favor or whatever.” Dex scowls down at the floor again, and grabs the pencil from behind his ear so that he can toss it onto the nearby desk with obvious frustration. Nursey knows him well enough at this point, though, to understand that that frustration is entirely directed inward. “I don’t want the credit for making you happy about our new living situation, I just... want you to be happy.”

Nursey suddenly has no idea what to do with his hands. He swallows, his mouth gone dry, his throat clicking. “Bro.”

“Don’t-- don’t make it a bigger deal than it is, alright? Grab a pie and take it downstairs. I’ll finish with the shelves, and then we never have to speak of this ever again.”

Oh they are definitely speaking of this again. They are going to be _constantly speaking of this_ if Nursey has a say. “I don’t hate you, Poindexter,” he tells Dex seriously, stepping forward so that he’s all the way inside the room now.

Dex shakes his head and takes a small step back. “You don’t have to--”

“I’m happy that we’re gonna be roommates, man. I mean it. Do you really think I would give you so much grief if I didn’t like you? Come on. Ever heard of pigtail pulling, Will?”

Dex is quiet for several very long seconds that have Nursey’s heart rate skyrocketing. Then: “If this is a joke, it’s a really mean one.”

Nursey takes another step forward and cocks his head to the side with a smirk. “Poindexter, you are literally my favorite person in the entire world to chirp. And my second favorite person to hang out with. Have you really not noticed?”

“I...” Brow furrowed in thought, Dex’s eyes jump around the room, from pie to pie to unfinished shelves and back again, like he’s trying to make it all add up to the answer Nursey’s giving him. Finally he looks back up, and his usual tight-lipped frown is still there, but his amber eyes are a little softer than Nursey’s ever seen them. “Well you have a fucking weird way of showing it, Nurse. Half the time I kinda wanna strangle you with my bare hands.”

Nursey takes that last step forward that puts them within a few inches of each other. That puts them directly over that crack in the floorboards where a now infamous coin still rests. “And the other half of the time?”

Dex huffs a surprised laugh, and it’s definitely not as reluctant as it usually is. He rolls his eyes, a slight smile tugging at his lips that he unsuccessfully fights back. “Why don’t we figure out how to be roommates first, and then maybe I’ll tell you about the other half.”

Nursey grins. “Sounds like a plan.”

Dex holds Nursey’s gaze with his own for a single, charged moment, and then shoves Nursey away with another roll of his eyes. “Alright, get out of here. I wanna finish putting these shelves up sometime today.”

“Can I help?”

“Can you avoid a visit to the emergency room if you do?”

“Probably not.” Nursey settles back, leaning against the windowsill and watching Dex work in silence. It’s a nice silence, though. One he could happily get used to.

“So, which one of these pies did you make?” he asks eventually. “Because as soon as you’re done in here we are splitting it out in the reading room with a couple of beers to commemorate the occasion.”

Dex ducks his head, his ears going a little red, but keeps on working without pause. “The chocolate mousse.”

“Oh thank fuck, I was about to faceplant into that one it looked so good. Now hurry up, dude, I’m starving.”

Dex tosses a screwdriver over his shoulder in Nursey’s direction in response. 

Nursey catches it easily, grinning again despite himself.


End file.
